Patrick Houck – August 31, 2024

Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-Va.) announced a new statewide initiative on Tuesday to highlight the progress his administration and Virginia First Lady Suzanne Youngkin have made in fighting the deadly impact of fentanyl on Virginians.

Youngkin introduced the “It Only Takes One” fentanyl awareness campaign, emphasizing the importance of having conversations about the dangers of fentanyl. “One pill can kill…it only takes one person to have that conversation; it only takes one bad decision to change a family’s life forever – and we can beat this together,” Youngkin said.

8News, Richmond’s ABC affiliate, reports:

“What we hear over and over again from students when we tell them that this little gram of fentanyl, two grams of it can kill you, they look at us and say, ‘We didn’t know. We never heard this,’” Youngkin said. “So we fully believe at the top of the list is we must educate everyone on the risks of fentanyl.”

As part of the effort, Youngkin announced the Fentanyl Families Ambassador Program, which will provide families affected by the opioid crisis with monthly training, toolkits and other resources to help spread awareness about fentanyl in an effort to reduce overdoses.

“It only takes one bad decision to buy a pill that you think is Percocet from someone you don’t know to end a life and to change a family forever,” said Youngkin.

First Lady Suzanne Youngkin also announced on Tuesday that, for the second year in a row, fentanyl-related deaths in Virginia declined in 2023.

The Commonwealth recorded 1,951 fentanyl-related overdose deaths in 2022, marking a significant increase from previous years. Fentanyl has become the leading cause of drug overdose deaths in Virginia, contributing to nearly 79% of all overdose fatalities in the state. The potent synthetic opioid is significantly more powerful than heroin and morphine, making it extremely dangerous, especially when mixed with other drugs.

The crisis remains at a point where more Virginians are dying from drug overdoses than from motor vehicle accidents or gun-related incidents. The impact is particularly severe among Black males, who have a fatal overdose rate nearly twice that of white males in the state​.

Additional efforts to defeat the crisis include harm reduction strategies such as naloxone distribution programs, which aim to reverse overdoses and increased access to substance use disorder treatment services.